Caravan

DESCRIPTION: It's the 1980s in an alternate-world
America. U.S. society has fallen apart under food shortages, fuel
shortages, racial unrest and a host of other problems. A group of
people intend to escape to another planet and start a whole new
world...if they can make it safely across the country--stealing gas and
fighting off bandits--to reach the ship before it leaves.

"This was one of the books that shaped my worldview as a
teenager, and I was delighted to discover it still reads well... The
story is disturbingly plausible and the characters just as diverse and
real as I remember them."--Erica L. Frank Complete
review